Traditionally, Thanksgiving and Christmas are times reserved for family. And once you get married, your family grows. With that growth, your obligations expand. Many couples rotate whose family they spend the special holidays with each year. If they suddenly receive a wedding invitation a few months ahead of Thanksgiving, it can throw the balance of everything into a tailspin. Here are some pros and cons to consider:

Pros

Thanksgiving can be a fun theme to play with at your wedding! We had clients from Chicago who had a "Pie-Stravaganza" in lieu of a wedding cake at their Thanksgiving wedding. Yes, there was fabulous pumpkin pie on the menu, but there were also seven other flavors to choose from. And who doesn't love pie?

The size of an out-of-control guest list can be seriously reduced by inviting your friends to spend an important holiday away from their families. Some of your friends won't even consider it. If you can't afford a big wedding but don't want to leave people off the guest list, a Thanksgiving weekend wedding is a great way to get a lot more people to decline the invite.

Whether or not you choose to host your wedding at a hotel, out-of-town guests will likely need a place to stay. The fall and winter often means lower rates and has more availability, which usually means all of your wedding guests are able to stay in the same place.

Cons

This might seem like a pro at first (and some may still consider it one!), but the fact that Thanksgiving is a truly American holiday means that the entire country will be celebrating. Many families have deep traditions and how they celebrate Thanksgiving is often one of them.By hosting a wedding over Thanksgiving weekend, you're asking your guest to change their usual traditions.

Airfares are outrageous for Thanksgiving week. Easily as bad, if not worse, than Christmas and Spring Break. If a lot of your guests will have to travel to your wedding, you have to take that into consideration. Everybody knows Thanksgiving is one of the most heavily-travelled days of the year.

Wedding vendors have families too, so don't look for big discounts even if you're getting married someplace that is supposed to be in "off-season, but you'll pay to have them servicing your wedding while their entire family is sitting at home enjoying turkey together.